This invention relates to apparatus and methods by which incoming phone calls are forwarded or diverted from a called line to a remote line on a selective prescreened basis.
The present application includes subject matter which was disclosed in Disclosure Document No. 165897 dated Mar. 11, 1987 and filed pursuant to the United States Patent Office Disclosure Document Program.
This invention deals with selectively linking a caller on an incoming call to another telephone number which has been preprogrammed and which telephone number is under the control of the called line. The technique of forwarding a telephone call to a remote line has been generically designated as call-forwarding. In fact, call-forwarding is available through the telephone company utilizing central office equipment. In employing call-forwarding, the telephone calls are automatically transferred from a subscriber's telephone to whatever number the subscriber wishes these calls to be transferred to. Call-forwarding works as follows.
In order to transfer a call, the subscriber on his telephone dials the numbers 72. He can dial this using a rotary phone or employing a touch-tone phone. He then may access the pound (#) button. The central office will recognize this request and send a dial tone. He then dials the number where the calls are to be transferred. The telephone company acknowledges receipt of the dialed number by sending two beeps. Essentially, this will complete the call-forwarding. To discontinue the transfer, the subscriber then dials the digits 73 and then presses the pound button (#) if there is one on the telephone set. In about four seconds the subscriber will hear two beeps indicating that the transfer is discontinued and the phone is now operating conventionally.
As one can understand from the above, once a subscriber dials a remote location, the telephone company automatically forwards the call to that location. This is done in a rapid manner and all calls coming to the subscriber's location will be automatically forwarded. It is, of course, extremely desirable that one would be able to program the remote calling number or the forwarding number from any telephone location. Such a system has been implemented and described in the prior art.
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,900 issued on June 2, 1987 to Herbert H. Waldman, the inventor herein, and entitled Single Line Telephone Call-Forwarding Device. This patent describes a device for enabling call-forwarding instructions to be given from any telephone in the system or in any connecting system which needs to be connected only to the phone line to which the call-forwarding service is provided. It does not require another phone line to communicate with the device. The device employs a ring detector to detect a short ring that occurs when a call is forwarded and to detect a long ring that occurs when call-forwarding is not in effect. Upon the detection of one or more short rings, the device seizes the phone line and transmits a 73 signal that cancels call-forwarding and triggers a timer that starts a timing interval of preset duration. If another phone call is received at the device within a preset timing interval, and an authorization code is transmitted within that interval, the device enables the call-forwarding instructions stored in the recorder to be changed. Thereafter the device will transmit the stored call-forwarding instructions to the central station within a given period. Thus, as one can see, the above-described patent enables a subscriber to change the number to which a call is forwarded to any desired telephone number in the system, and this can be done remote from the subscriber's subset.
As one can see from the above, call-forwarding essentially is implemented by the central office of the telephone company and is done so according to a number programmed in by a subscriber.
Another procured service available through the telephone company via the central office is designated as three-way calling. In three-way calling the object is to allow three telephone subsets to be connected together and under the control of a subscriber location having the procured service. In order to add a third telephone to an existing call, the subscriber presses the switch hook (flash) of his set which puts the person connected to on hold. Then there are three quick beeps followed by a dial tone. Upon receipt of the dial tone, the subscriber dials the number of a remote phone that he wishes to also be connected to. The switch hook is then pushed (flash) again and all three phones are connected. To disconnect the third person, the subscriber pushes the switch and he and the original person are now connected again. When the subscriber hangs up, the entire telephone conversation is disconnected.
In regard to three way calling, reference is made to U.S. 4,670,628 issued on June 2, 1987 and entitled Reprogrammable Call-Forwarding Device by James F. Boratgis, et al. This patent shows a call-forwarding device for a forwarding phone that is connected by a single forwarding phone line to a central telephone exchange. The exchange, as indicated, provides the three-way conference service as indicated above. In the call-forwarding mode, in response to a call from a calling phone to the forwarding phone, the device has circuits including a ring detector, a hook condition simulator and a sensor that automatically operates to simulate an off-hook condition to simulate a first switch flash condition and operates to actuate a message transmitting and storage device which generates telephone dialing pulses corresponding to the number of the third phone and to simulate a second hook flash condition whereby the calling phone is automatically connected by the equipment to a third phone. The circuit has remote reprogramming capability so that the device may be reprogrammed with any third phone number to change the telephone number to which the call is forwarded and then reset for receiving the next call or a new phone number.
This patent takes advantage of the three-way calling service provided by the telephone company to utilize the subscriber's phone acting as a connecting interface between a calling party and the called party who is now located at the third phone location.
Further, and in conjunction with three-way calling, is the fact that the storage device, which is a necessary part of utilizing three-way calling to implement call forwarding, has an unlimited memory storage. Hence, a very important aspect of the three-way calling mode is to employ the call screening and privacy to cellular phone users. Hence, as will be explained, calls made to a car phone can be rendered selective as well and hence saves air time charges to the subscriber. In this manner, the subscriber programs the roaming access number remotely into the selective forwarding system, as will be explained. The caller always dials the same telephone number, which is the subscriber's local number regardless of which cellular area the mobile user may be in. A great advantage in this regard is that the subscriber does not in any manner have to disclose his mobile telephone number to anyone by programming his mobile number into his system and thus maintaining the confidentiality of his mobile phone number. In this manner, the caller does not have to know where the subscriber is as the subscriber can automatically dial in his roaming access number which will be stored in the call forwarding equipment and then upon receiving a call and a proper access code the calling party will be connected to the subscriber no matter where the subscriber is located with respect to the cellular equipment. Upon leaving his car, the subscriber can program in a phone number where he is to be at, based on the system operation. The roaming access number can also be changed to therefore enable any caller to contact the subscriber without knowing the location of the subscriber. This is extremely important for use in cellular telephone systems as the roaming problem is a substantial prior art problem.
As one can ascertain, the above services as supplied by the telephone company, require that the serviced subscriber is responsible for all charges which include the connection from his telephone to the remote phone. The telephone subscriber who has taken advantage of call-forwarding or three-way calling pays for all connection charges. In this manner, it is extremely desirable to provide a system whereby the apparatus will selectively link a caller on an incoming call to another phone line which has been programmed into the system. In this manner, the prior art systems are deficient in that every call is forwarded to the predesignated telephone without discriminating between desired and undesired callers. Hence, these systems lack the important element of first screening the calls so that only certain callers will be forwarded and other callers will not be forwarded. The cited systems do not possess the ability to be selective in their call-forwarding function. This is so because the phone number dialed by the caller is processed in the central office forwarding equipment and an incoming call is not first intercepted and screened by the system but is automatically made. In regard to the instant invention, the call, prior to being diverted to its ultimate destination, is first intercepted and screened by the system of the instant invention and if the person making the call is properly authorized then the call is transferred on a selective basis only. Hence, the primary objective of this invention is to provide apparatus whereby one will implement a call-forwarding method that is selective, and hence there is provided apparatus for selectively forwarding telephone calls originated by preferred calling parties. The system can be employed in regard to the services provided by the telephone company, as for example three-way calling and call-forwarding, and can also be provided to implement and enhance other conventional operating systems.
It is a further objective to provide a call forwarding system which can be programmed with more than one telephone number as for example a mobile telephone number as well as a roaming access number or either.
It is an additional object to provide a call forwarding system which can be controlled to operate selectively or non-selectively.
It is another object to provide a simulated ringing or busy signal until a calling party provides a preferred code.
It is a further object to enable a subscriber to maintain telephone numbers or his mobile number in confidence.